Event scheduling

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for determining other users that will attend an event with a user. One of the methods includes receiving, by a computer-implemented agent for a device, input from a user identifying an event, determining constraints for other users that will be invited to attend the event, determining one or more other users who meet the constraints, identifying, for each of the other users, other computer-implemented agents, each of the other agents for respective other devices, sending, to each of the other agents, a request to determine whether the respective other user of the other agent is interested in attending the event, receiving, from a first subset of the other agents, a response that indicates that the respective other user is interested in attending the event, and facilitating communication between the user and the respective other users.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/325,484, filed Jul. 8, 2014, the contents of which are incorporatedby reference herein.

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to scheduling events for a user anddetermining other users that can attend some of the same events.

A computer-implemented agent may interact with a user to provide theuser with an interface for features of a device on which thecomputer-implemented agent executes or with which thecomputer-implemented agent is associated. For example, acomputer-implemented agent may execute on a mobile device, receive voiceinput from a user, and execute one or more actions in response to thevoice input, such as retrieving search results responsive to the voiceinput and providing the search results to the user.

SUMMARY

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification can be embodied in methods that include the actionsof receiving, by a computer-implemented agent for a device, input from auser identifying an event which the user plans to attend, determining,by the agent, constraints for other users that will be invited to attendthe event, determining, by the agent, one or more other users who meetthe constraints, identifying, by the agent and for each of the otherusers, other computer-implemented agents, each of the other agents forrespective other devices, sending, by the agent and to each of the otheragents, a request to determine whether the respective other user of theother agent is interested in attending the event, receiving, by theagent from a first subset of the other agents, a response that indicatesthat the respective other user is interested in attending the event, andfacilitating, by the agent and with the first subset of the otheragents, communication between the user and the respective other users.Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems,apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computerstorage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.A system of one or more computers can be configured to performparticular operations or actions by virtue of having software, firmware,hardware, or a combination of them installed on the system that inoperation causes or cause the system to perform the actions. One or morecomputer programs can be configured to perform particular operations oractions by virtue of including instructions that, when executed by dataprocessing apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the actions.

The foregoing and other embodiments can each optionally include one ormore of the following features, alone or in combination. The method mayinclude identifying, by the agent, at least one of the first subset ofother agents whose respective other user plans to attend the event, andscheduling, by the agent and the at least one of the first subset ofother agents, a time slot for the event for the user and the other user.Scheduling the time slot for the event for the user and the other usermay include determining a time and a location for the event withoutsharing any user's calendar information with any of the users.Scheduling the time slot for the event for the user and the other usermay include determining a time and a location for the event, andreserving the time for the event in a calendar of the user. Schedulingthe time slot for the event for the user and the other user may includeprompting, by the agent, the user to determine whether the user plans toattend another event identified on the calendar of the user whichconflicts with the time for the event, and receiving, by the agent,input indicating that the user will not attend the other event.

In some implementations, wherein facilitating communication between theuser and the respective other users may include determining respectiveprivacy settings for the user and each of the respective other users,and providing only information identified by a corresponding user asinformation that can be disclosed in a communication between the agentand the first subset of the other agents according to the respectiveprivacy settings for the user and each of the respective other users.The method may include determining, by the agent using the respectiveprivacy settings for the user, that the agent may provide one of theother agents in the first subset additional information about the userin a subsequent communication that the agent could not provide in afirst communication sent prior to the subsequent communication.Determining that the agent may provide one of the other agents in thefirst subset additional information about the user in a subsequentcommunication that the agent could not provide in a first communicationsent prior to the subsequent communication may include receiving, by theagent, input from the user indicating that the agent may provide theadditional information to the one of the other agents in the firstsubset.

In some implementations, facilitating communication between the user andthe respective other users may include, for a particular other user fromthe other users until the user and the other user agree to attend theevent together or not, providing, by the agent, additional informationabout the user or the event to a particular other agent from the otheragents that corresponds with the particular other user, and receiving,by the agent, other additional information about the other user or theevent from the particular other agent. The additional information mayinclude a job title for the user and the other additional informationmay include another job title for the particular other user. Theadditional information may include a name of an employer of the user andthe other additional information may include another name of anotheremployer for the particular other user. The additional information mayinclude a name of a city in which the user works or lives and the otheradditional information may include another name of another city in whichthe particular other user works or lives.

In some implementations, wherein facilitating communication between theuser and the respective other users may include facilitatingcommunication about the event, the user, or the other users.Facilitating communication between the user and the respective otherusers may include facilitating, by the agent for each of the otheragents in the first subset of the other agents, communication betweenonly the agent and the respective other agent. Determining theconstraints for the other users that will be invited to attend the eventwithout receiving an identity for any of the other users from the usermay include prompting, by the agent, the user for the constraints, andreceiving, by the agent, input from the user identifying theconstraints. Determining the constraints for the other users that willbe invited to attend the event without receiving an identity for any ofthe other users from the user may include identifying a profile for theuser that defines the constraints.

In some implementations, determining, by the agent, constraints forother users that will be invited to attend the event may includedetermining, by the agent, constraints for other users that will beinvited to attend the event without receiving an identity for any of theother users from the user. Determining, by the agent, the one or moreother users who meet the constraints may include determining, by theagent, the one or more other users who meet the constraints withoutrevealing an identity for any of the other users to the user. Theconstraints may be specific to the event, a type of the event, or allevents for the user.

The subject matter described in this specification can be implemented inparticular embodiments so as to realize one or more of the followingadvantages. In some implementations, computer-implemented agents mayintroduce people, who may not know each other, without revealing aperson's identity to the other people and while maintaining the eachperson's privacy, e.g., as defined by respective privacy settings foreach person. In some implementations, computer-implemented agentsschedule a time and a location for an event while not revealinginformation from calendars of other users to a respective user tomaintain the privacy of each of the users, e.g., except that thescheduled time and the scheduled location are revealed to all of theusers.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter of thisspecification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is an example of an environment in which a computer-implementedagent schedules an event for a user.

FIG. 1B is an example of another environment in which anothercomputer-implemented agent schedules an event for another user 105.

FIG. 2 is an example of a system in which computer-implemented agentsfor multiple user devices schedule a time for an event for therespective users of the user devices.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a process for scheduling a time for an eventon a user's calendar.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing system that can be used inconnection with computer-implemented methods described in this document.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

A user may want to schedule an event without providing all of the eventdetails or the user's identity to people invited to attend the event. Acomputer-implemented agent, executing on a device operated by the user,may act as a collaborative intermediary for the user and receive inputfrom the user describing the event, such as a date and event type, andpotentially constraints for the types of people the user would like toinvite.

A computer-implemented agent is a software service, executing on a userdevice or a server, that provides a user with a voice interface. Thecomputer-implemented agent may act a particular way depending on pastinteractions with the user, settings, e.g., specified by a programmer ora user, or custom commands, e.g., specified by the user. Thecomputer-implemented agent may have a particular style of speech, e.g.,specific interactions to take or ways the agent responds to particularsituations with the user, a particular voice, e.g., sound of speech, ora particular language, e.g., as text-to-speech parameters.

The computer-implemented agent uses the input received from the user tofind other computer-implemented agents, for devices operated by otherusers, that each indicate that their respective other user meets theuser's constraints and is interested in attending the event. Thecomputer-implemented agent and the other computer-implemented agents mayinteract to introduce the user to the other users, and potentially someof the other users to each other, without revealing the identity of anyof the users until a respective agent explicitly receives a user'spermission to share her identity. Each of the agents may use respectiveprivacy settings for the respective user to ensure that the respectiveuser's privacy is maintained and predictable.

For example, the agents may share their respective user's interests todetermine common interests between two or more of the users and providetheir respective user with information indicating that another user whomay attend the event has a particular common interest. Two of the agentsmay determine that their respective users, potentially including theuser who initially created the invite, both like soccer, hiking, or aparticular sports team and share that common interest with their users:“Another person who may attend the event likes soccer.”

The agents may provide additional details about their respective usersto the other agents, based on settings identified by their respectiveuser or using input received from their respective user, until theirrespective user indicates that they do not want to attend the event,e.g., by not responding to a prompt for additional details, or that theydo want to attend the event, e.g., and that the agent may share theuser's identity with the other agents.

The agents that receive an indication from their respective users thatthe user wants to attend the event may coordinate scheduling of theevent. For instance, if the event is watching a movie, the agents maydetermine a particular movie that all of the users want to watch and atime that works for all of the users to attend the particular movie,e.g., without sharing any of the user's availabilities with the otherusers.

In examples when the event is for a particular movie, the agents maydetermine show times for the particular movie and times when all of theusers who want to attend the movie are available and schedule the eventat a time that works for all of the users, or a majority of the userswhen a time slot that works for all of the users is not available.

The scheduling of the event may include determining a location for theevent. For example, the agents may find a movie theater that is showingthe particular movie at a time that works for all of the users, e.g.,taking travel time for each of the users into consideration. In someexamples, the agents may find a movie theater that is centrally located,e.g., with respect to where each of the users work or live, and schedulethe event at that movie theater.

Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1A is an example of an environment 100 in which acomputer-implemented agent 102 schedules an event for a user 104. Theevent may be a specific type of event, such as a movie described here, aspecific event, such as a particular showing of a specific movie or anyshowing of a specific movie, or may be general, such as an event inwhich to participate on a particular day of the week, e.g., when theuser 104 can get together with friends or new acquaintances tosocialize.

The agent 102 may be a computer-implemented conversational agent thatinteracts with the user using voice input and output on a user device.For instance, the user device may receive a digital representation ofspeech that encodes an utterance spoken by the user 104, transcribe theutterance using the digital representation of speech, and provide thetranscription to the agent 102. The agent 102 uses the transcription todetermine a response to the utterance and uses text-to-speech data togenerate an audible version of the response to provide to the user,e.g., using a speaker.

In some examples, the agent 102 receives input and provides output usinga display. For instance, the agent may receive input from a keyboardapplication, e.g., included in the user device, and provide text outputon a display of the user device. The agent 102 may use any appropriatealgorithm to receive input from and provide a response to the user 104.

In one example, the user 104 may ask the agent 102 to “find some peoplewho will go to a movie” with the user 104. The agent 102 may identifypredetermined constraints for the event, e.g., specified by usersettings, or may ask the user 104 whether the user has “any constraintsfor who goes to the movie” with the user 104. The agent 102 determinesthe constraints, such as by receiving voice input from the user 104indicating that the user would like to go to the movie with “people inthe Minneapolis area in their 30s and 40s.”

The agent 102 uses the constraints to determine other users who mayattend the event with the user 104. For instance, the agent 102communicates with other agents, each of which is associated with anotheruser and a device operated by that other user, and determines that 1,213other users meet the user's constraints, e.g., that 1,213 other userslive in Minneapolis, are in their 30s or 40s, and match the user'spredefine constraints specified by user settings or a user profile. Insome examples, the agent 102 uses both predetermined constraints andconstraints indicated by the user during the conversation process, e.g.,shown in the environment 100, only predetermined constraints, or onlyconstraints indicated by the user during the conversation process. Thepredetermined constraints may be specific to a single event, a type ofevent, or all events for the user. The predetermined constraints may bestored in a database or a memory of a device that executes the agent 102or another device.

The agent 102 communicates with other agents of the determined otherusers to determine which of those other users are interested in going tothe movie, e.g., with the user given the information currently providedto those other users, such as a time or date for the movie. In theexample shown in FIG. 1A, the agent 102 determines that five other usersare interested in going to the movie and informs the user 104 that theagent 102 “found five people who meet your preferences and areinterested in going to the movie.”

The user 104 may instruct the agent 102 to schedule the movie with thefive other users. In response, the agent 102 communicates with the otheragents each of which are associated with one of the five other users todetermine a time for the movie, and potentially a theater at which towatch the movie, assuming that the user's preferences do not indicate apreferred theater. During this communication process, some of the otheragents may determine that their respective other user is unable toattend the movie, e.g., due to time or location constraints. Forinstance, one of the other users may not be able to attend the movie atthe user's preferred theater and that user's agent informs the agent 102that the one of the other users cannot go to the movie, while neither ofthe agents release the identity of the one of the other users to theagent 102 or the user 104 to the other agent.

Alternatively, the agent 102 may begin an iterative process of revealingmore details about the user to the five other users, and receivingadditional details about the five other users from the respective otheragents and providing those additional details to the user 104. Forinstance, the user 104 may instruct the agent 102 to let the other users“know that I am a Senior Buyer at Widget Co.,” potentially in responseto a prompt from the agent 102 or using user settings. The other usersmay use the additional information, such as the name of the company atwhich the user 104 works, to determine whether they want to go to amovie with the user 104.

The additional information can include interests of some of the userssuch that a person may be more likely to go to a movie or an event withsomeone who has one or more common interests than an event with someonewith whom they have no interests in common. For example, a person may bemore likely to go to a movie about soccer with another person who alsolikes soccer compared to a different person who doesn't like sports. Insome examples, a person may be more likely to go to a movie with someonewith whom they can network, e.g., about school or business, compared tosomeone who works in a completely different field.

Returning to the example shown in FIG. 1A, the agent 102 provides theadditional information received from the user 104, e.g., that the user104 is a Senior Buyer at Widget Co., to the other agents for the fiveother people interested in going to the movie and communicates withthose other agents and finds a Sales Supervisor who plans to go to themovie with the user. The agent 102 then informs the user that “a SalesSupervisor at Acme Inc. plans to go to the movie.” In response, the user104 may instruct the agent 102 to “schedule the movie with the SalesSupervisor.”

The agent 102 communicates with the other agent for the Sales Supervisorto determine a time and a location at which the user 104 and the SalesSupervisor may attend the movie. The agent 102 and the other agent forthe Sales Supervisor add the movie to the calendars of their respectiveusers.

FIG. 1B is an example of another environment 101 in which anothercomputer-implemented agent 103 schedules an event for another user 105.For instance, the other computer-implemented agent 103 may communicatewith the computer-implemented agent 102, described with reference toFIG. 1A, to schedule a time for the other user 105 and the user 104 toattend a movie.

For example, when the computer-implemented agent 102 sends a message tothe other computer-implemented agent 103 indicating that the user 104plans to attend a movie, is looking for other users to attend the movie,and the constraints of the user 104, the other computer-implementedagent 103 may determine that the other user 105 meets the constraints ofthe user 104. The other computer-implemented agent 103 prompts the otheruser 105 to indicate that “a person is looking to find someone like youto go to a movie tonight. Are you interested in going with this person?”

The other computer-implemented agent 103 may determine that a calendarfor the other user 105 indicates that the other user 105 plans to attenda movie, e.g., the same day as the user 104, and include additionalinformation, e.g., “I know that you were planning on going to a movietonight,” in the prompt. In some implementations, the othercomputer-implemented agent 103 may include the additional information inthe prompt when a calendar entry in the other user's 105 calendarindicates that the other user 105 plans to attend a movie and does notindicate a particular movie. In some examples, the othercomputer-implemented agent 103 may include the additional information inthe prompt when the calendar entry indicates a particular movie that theother user 105 plans to attend to determine whether the user 104 mayattend the particular movie or if the other user 105 is willing to watcha different movie than originally planned, e.g., if the user 104 doesnot want to watch the particular movie.

The other computer-implemented agent 103 may receive input from theother user 105 indicating that the other computer-implemented agent 103should “go ahead and get more details” about the movie event and to “letthe person know I might be interested” in attending the movie.

The other computer-implemented agent 103 provides thecomputer-implemented agent 102 with a message that indicates that theother user 105 is interested in attending the movie but would likeadditional details about the movie event, e.g., a specific movie theuser 104 plans to watch, a time or location for the movie, orinformation about the user 104. In this example, the othercomputer-implemented agent 103 receives a response from thecomputer-implemented agent 102 that indicates that the user 104 is aSenior Buyer at Widget Co. and informs the user that “I let the person'sagent know. By the way, the person is a Senior Buyer at Widget Co.”

The other computer-implemented agent 103 may receive a response from theother user 105 instructing the other computer-implemented agent 103 to“go ahead and tell the person about my job and that I'll go to the movieif they still want to go.” The other computer-implemented agent 103 mayuse a profile or other data for the other user 105 to determineinformation about the other user's 105 job, such as his job title,employer, or a city in which he works, and provide some of thatinformation to the computer-implemented agent 102, e.g., that the otheruser 105 is a Sales Supervisor at Acme Inc.

In some implementations, the other computer-implemented agent 103 mayuse a user profile and privacy settings for the other user 105 todetermine what data to share with the computer-implemented agent 102.For example, the other computer-implemented agent 103 may determine whatinformation has already been shared with the computer-implemented agent102, what information should be shared with the computer-implementedagent 102 based on a quantity of communications with thecomputer-implemented agent 102, e.g., the particular iteration ofcommunications, or both.

The other computer-implemented agent 103 and the computer-implementedagent 102 communicate to determine a time or a location for the movie orwhich particular movie to watch, or any combination of two or more ofthese. In some examples, the other computer-implemented agent 103 mayuse details for an event which the other user 105 planned to attend whendetermining the time, the location, or the particular movie. The othercomputer-implemented agent 103 may use a user profile for the other user105, or other data associated with the other user 105, such as a textmessage sent by the other user 105 indicating that the other user 105 isinterested in watching the particular movie, when determining the time,the location, or the particular movie. The other computer-implementedagent 103 may prompt the other user 105 for input regarding the time,the location, or the particular movie.

The other computer-implemented agent 103 informs the other user 105 thatthe scheduling of the movie is “all set. I've talked to the other agent,and given your current location and the other person's we recommend theCentral Cineplex.” The other user 105 may then tell the othercomputer-implemented agent “Great. I'll be there at seven,” e.g., whenthe other user's 105 calendar entry for watching a movie that evening isfor seven.

Example System

FIG. 2 is an example of a system 200 in which computer-implementedagents for multiple user devices 202 a-d schedule a time for an eventfor the respective users of the user devices 202 a-d. As described inmore detail below, the users may or may not know some of the other usersand may or may not know that some of the other users are invited to theevent but the agents to not release the identity of their respectiveuser until their respective user indicates that the agent may releaseinformation about the user's identity or respective privacy settingsindicate that the agent may release information about the user'sidentity.

For example, a user A of the user device A 202 a may instruct his agentA 204 a, e.g., a digital assistant or conversational agent, tocoordinate an event, e.g., an activity such as a meeting or dinner, witha specific set of other users, e.g., the users of the user devices B-D202 b-d. The specific set of other users may be identified by name,e.g., user B, user C, and user D, or by group, e.g., the user A'simmediate family members or friends that the agent A 204 determinesusing contact information or in social media information. The agent A204 a contacts the other agents B-D 204 b-d and informs the other agentsthat the user of the user device A 202 a wants to schedule the eventwith certain constraints.

The agent A 204 a may determine the constraints for the event using auser A profile 206 a for the user of the user device A 202 a or byprompting the user A for the constraints. Some examples of constraintsinclude a physical or virtual location for the event, a time of day, aparticular day or day of week for the event, that the event occurs by aspecific date, the duration of the event, the type of activity, e.g., ameeting or hiking, etc. For instance, a preferred time of day, day ofweek, or event duration may be predetermined, e.g., specified in theuser A profile 206 a, while the particular day of the event or a day bywhich the event should occur may be received from the user A of the userdevice A 202 a, e.g., with the event request or in response to a promptfrom the agent A 204 a.

The other agents B-D 204 b-d may use the constraints to determinewhether or not their corresponding users are able to attend the event.For instance, the agent B 204 b may ask its user whether or not theywould like to attend the event and provide the agent A 204 a with amessage A 212 a that indicates the user B's response.

Another agent, for example agent D 204 d, may compare the constraintsreceived from the agent A 204 a with the user D profile 206 d, a user Dcalendar 210 d, or both, to determine whether the user D may attend theevent. For example, when the constraints include a particular time,date, or both, the agent D 204 d may determine that the user D cannotattend the event because of other commitments, e.g., identified in theuser D calendar 210 d.

In some examples, the agents may resolve conflicts between constraintsand schedules. For example, when the user D calendar 210 d indicatesthat the user D may not be able to attend the event, the agent D 204 dmay prompt the user D to determine whether or not the user D plans toattend a scheduled event or may be able to attend the event with theuser A. For instance, the agent D 204 d may determine that the user Dsometimes, or often, does not attend a particular event identified onher calendar, e.g., using user history data, and prompt the user D todetermine whether she will attend the particular event or may attend theevent with the user A instead. When the user D indicates that she islikely to attend the particular event and not the event with the user A,the agent D 204 d notifies the agent A 204 a that the user D will notattend or doesn't send any response to the agent A 204 a. When the userD indicates that she is not likely to attend the particular event andmay attend the event with the user A, the agent D 204 d notifies theagent A 204 a that the user D may attend the event, depending onadditional information about the event, etc., as described in moredetail below.

In some instances, one of the agents B-D 204 b-d may prompt theircorresponding user to determine whether the user wants to attend theevent with the user A, e.g., without revealing the user A's identity,and, in response, receive a request for additional information about theevent from their respective user. The respective agent B-D 204 b-drequests additional information from the agent A 204 a. The agent A 204a may prompt the user A for the additional information, or may determinethat the additional information is available to the agent A 204 a, e.g.,in the user A profile 206 a or a user history, that privacy settings A208 a for the user A indicate that the agent A 204 a may share theadditional information, and provide the additional information to therequesting agent B-D 204 b-d that then presents the additionalinformation to the respective user.

The agents A-D 204 a-d, for the users who indicated that they may attendthe event with the user A, schedule the event, if the event request fromthe user A did not include a specific time, day, location, or anycombination of two or more of those. The agents A-D 204 a-d may prompttheir respective user for information about what time or location works,or may use the respective user profile 206 a-d, user history data, oruser calendars 210 a-d. The agents A-D 204 a-d determine a time thatworks for the users A-D that will attend the event without sharingcalendar information for the other users with their respective user. Forinstance, the agent A 204 a may prompt the user A to determine whetherFriday at 6 PM works to watch a movie without indicating that the user Bhas a meeting until 5:30 PM that Friday or that the user C is unable toattend because of previous commitments that Friday evening.

Once the event is scheduled, the agents A-D 204 a-d, for the users whoindicated that they may attend the event with the user A and who areavailable during the scheduled time, add the event to their respectiveuser's calendar. For example, the agents A-D 204 a-d may determine thatusers B, C, and D want to attend the event with the user A but that userC is unable to attend, e.g., due to previous commitments, and thatanother time or day will not work better for the user C, and schedulethe movie for Friday at 6 PM on the calendars for the users A, B, and D.

In another example, the user A may ask the agent A 204 a to introducethe user A to other users, who the user A may not know and does notspecify, that may attend an event with the user A. For instance, theuser A may ask the agent A to find other users who will watch a movie,e.g., a specific movie or any movie, with the user A. The other usersmay include a person from the user A's network of friends or socialcircle or a person with whom the user A is not connected, e.g., but mayhave a common interest in a particular activity, hobby, occupationalfield, etc. The other uses may include friends of the user A's friendsor family, a person who works for the same organization or entity withwhich the user A works, e.g., but might not know, or a person whoattends a group with the user A, e.g., a technical group, a church,class, association, etc.

In this example, the user C informs the agent C 204 c that she plans towatch a movie, e.g., and may potentially include constraints for themovie, such as a particular movie name, time, location, or anycombination of two or more of those. The agent C 204 c prompts the userC whether she would like the agent C 204 c to find someone with whichthe user C can watch the movie. The agent C 204 c may then receive inputfrom the user C indicating constraints for other users with which shewould watch the movie, such as someone the user C knows, e.g., withoutspecifying a particular name but potentially specifying a particulargroup or circle of friends, or that the agent C 204 c should findsomeone the user C communicates with at least once a month or someonethe user C has spent time with before, e.g., according to a user historyfor the user C, the user C calendar, or the user C's contacts on theuser device C 202 c.

The agent C 204 c uses the constraints for the movie to determine otherusers who match the user C's constraints. The agent C 204 c maycommunicate with the other agents A-D 204 a-d in the system 200 todetermine the other users who match the user C's constraints. The agentC 204 c may send a message to all of the other agents A-D 204 a-d in thesystem 200 to determine whether the other agents' respective user meetsthe constraints of the user C. In some examples, the agent C 204 c maycommunicate with a server 214 that includes user profile data for theusers A-D to determine which of the other users match the user C'sconstraints.

For instance, the agent C 204 c may request data from the server 214identifying the agents for the users who match the user C's constraints,given the information available to the server 214. When the user C'sconstraints include that the agent C 204 c should find someone with whomthe user C has previously spent time, the agent C 204 c may be able todetermine a list of all users that match this constraint using a userhistory for the user C or the server 214 may include a user history forthe user C and determine the list of all users that match thisconstraint.

In some examples, whether or not another user meets a particularconstraint may only be determined by the agent C 204 c or the otheruser's agent. For example, when a constraint indicates a particular dayand time for the movie, the other user's agent may be able to determinewhether the other user meets this constraint while the server 214cannot, e.g., when the server 214 does not have access to the otheruser's calendar. In some examples, the server 214 is able to determinewhether each of the other users meets all of the constraints specifiedby the user C.

The agent C 204 c sends a message to each of the other agents A-D 204a-d to determine whether the other agents' respective user would like toattend the movie with the user C without revealing the user C'sidentity. The message that asks whether the other users would like toattend the movie may be the same message sent to the other agents A-D204 a-d that determines whether the respective other user meets the userC's constraints. Each of the other agents A-D 204 a-d provides a promptto their respective user, e.g., on a display of the respective userdevice or audibly, to determine whether the user may attend the moviewith the user C. The prompt may indicate that the user C who isscheduling the movie event is someone that the user viewing the promptknows, or other information about the user C such as some of the userC's hobbies, without revealing the user C's identity, e.g., name, oralias.

The other agents A-D 204 a-d may receive input from their respectiveuser indicating that the user may attend the movie with the user C and,in response, provide the agent C with a message indicating that therespective other user may attend the movie, and may include the otheruser's name or information identifying the other user. For example, theagent C 204 c may send a message B 212 b to the agents A and D todetermine whether the users A and D would like to attend the movie, whenthe users A and D match constraints provided by the user C and the userB does not. The agent A 204 a may respond with a message C 212 crequesting additional information about the movie or the user C and theagent C 204 c may send the agent A 204 a the name of the movie, the nameof a theater at which the user C will watch the movie, or a list ofactivities the user C enjoys, e.g., and about which both users may talk.The agent A 204 a then provides the additional information to the userA, e.g., via audible or visible output, and may receive a response fromthe user A indicating that the user A intends to watch the movie withthe user C.

In some examples, the agent C 204 c may provide the same additionalinformation to multiple other agents at the same time. For instance, theagent C 204 c may send the message B 212 b with the name of the movie orthe location of the theater to the agent A 204 a and the agent D 204 d.

In some examples, a response from another agent may be provided tomultiple agents. For instance, the agent A 204 a may receive permissionto disclose the user A's occupation, explicitly from the user A or usingthe privacy settings A 208 a, and provide a message to the agents C-D204 c-d that identifies the user A's occupation. The information sharedby an agent is sent to the agents for the users that may attend themovie, e.g., and is not sent to the other agents in the system 200 forthe users that do not plan to attend the movie.

The communication between the agents A-D 204 a-d may be an iterativeprocess where additional information is gradually revealed about theusers that may attend the movie. A first iteration may disclose thetypes of movies each of the users may want to watch, e.g., and be usedto determine a specific movie for an event. A second iteration maydisclose common interests of the users who may still attend the movie,e.g., and did not express that they are no longer interested inattending the movie during the previous iteration. And a third iterationmay disclose the users' employers or places the users recently went forvacation.

During each of the iterations, the agents A-D 204 a-d confirm with theirrespective user whether the respective agent has the user's permissionto share additional information, the type of additional information thatmay be shared, the specific information that the agent should provide tothe other agents, or any combination of two or more of those. One ormore of the agents A-D 204 a-d may use respective privacy settings A-D208 a-d to determine whether the respective agent has the user'spermission.

The agents A-D 204 a-d may confirm with their respective user whether ornot the user may still attend the movie. For instance, the user C may beinterested in seeing an action movie and the agent C 204 c provides theagents A and D with the message B 212 b indicating that the movie willbe an action movie after an initial message to determine which users maybe interested in seeing a movie with the user C. The agent D 204 d maythen receive input from the user D indicating that the user D is nolonger interested in watching a movie with the user C, and stopparticipation in the scheduling of the movie with the agent C 204 c.

In some examples, the user D may indicate that they would prefer seeinga drama movie and not an action movie. The agent D 204 d may send amessage to the agent C 204 c indicating that the user D will see a dramamovie but not an action movie. The agent C 204 c may then determinewhether the user C will watch a drama with the user D instead of anaction movie. The agent A 204 a may also participate in thecommunication with the agents C-D 204 c-d to determine the type of moviefor the event, e.g., for situations where the user A may want to watchan action movie but not a drama.

The agents may communicate with the other agents 204 a-d and presentinformation to their respective user without disclosing the identity ofany of the other users to their user. For instance, the agent C 204 cmay indicate that another user would like to see a drama movie but notan action movie without sharing the identity of the user D. In someexamples, the agent C 204 c may indicate that one other user would seean action movie, but not a drama, and another user would see a drama butnot an action movie. In this example, the agent C 204 c presents theuser C with information to allow the user C to decide what type of movieto select for the event without knowing who would attend for theparticular type of movie selected. The presentation may includenon-identifying information, such as a hobby or occupation of the userwho wants to see the action movie and some education background of theuser who wants to see the drama.

The respective agents A-D 204 a-d, for the users who have indicated thatthey plan to attend the movie, schedule a time, day, location, or anycombination of two or more of those for the movie. The scheduling mayinclude sharing of calendar information between the respective agentsA-D 204 a-d without sharing the calendar information with the users,e.g., so that each of the users does not know details about the otherusers' availability. The scheduling may include an agent creating anappointment on the respective user's calendar for the movie.

Prior to scheduling the movie, the respective agents may shareinformation that indicates the identity of the users. For instance, whenthe user A, the user C, and the user D all indicate that they may attenda movie, the users' respective agents may share the user's name with theother agents, and the other agents may present the name to theirrespective user, e.g., audibly or visually. When multiple other usersare attending an event, an agent may present all of the other users'names to its respective user at the same time. For example, the agent C204 c may indicate that both user A and user D plan to attend the movie.

When an agent schedules the movie, e.g., on a user's calendar, the agentmay confirm that the respective user plans to attend the movie. Forexample, the agent D 204 d may prompt the user D visually to confirmthat she plans to attend the movie with the user C.

One or more of the agents A-D 204 a-d may execute on the respective userdevice A-D 202 a-d in part or entirely. One or more of the agents A-D204 a-d may execute, in whole or in part, on the server 214 or anotherserver. When one of the agents executes solely on the server 214, theagent is associated with the respective user device, e.g., using arespective device identifier or an account of the respective user.

Some of the user profiles 206 a-d, the privacy settings 208 a-d, theuser calendars 210 a-d, or any combination of two or more of these maybe stored on a server, such as the server 214. For example, the userdevice A 202 a may execute the agent A 204 a and include the privacysettings A 208 a in a memory while the user A profile 206 a and the userA calendar 210 a are stored on the server 214. The server 214 mayinclude one or more computers.

The user devices 202 a-d may include personal computers, mobilecommunication devices, and other devices that can send and receive dataover a network 216. The network 216, such as a local area network (LAN),wide area network (WAN), the Internet, or a combination thereof,connects the user devices 202 a-d and the server 214.

Example Process Flow

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a process 300 for scheduling a time for anevent on a user's calendar. For example, the process 300 can be used bythe computer-implemented agent 102 from the environment 100.

The process receives input from a user identifying an event which theuser plans to attend (302). The event may be a movie, a meeting, adinner event, or a hiking event to name a few examples.

The process determines constraints for other users that will be invitedto attend the event (304). The constraints may indicate common interestsfor the user and the other users. The constraints may indicatecharacteristics of the other users, such as an age, occupation, citywhere the respective other users live or work, etc. In some examples,the agent receives the constraints from the user without receiving anidentity for any of the other users from the user.

The process determines one or more other users who meet the constraintswithout revealing an identity for any of the other users to the user(306). For instance, the agent communicates with a server or otheragents, or both, to determine the other users.

In some examples, some of the constraints may be optional. For example,the user may indicate that they would like to go to a movie with someonewho lives in Minneapolis or Saint Paul. In one example, a constraint mayindicate that the user would like to attend the movie with someone whoworks at Widget Co. but that the user is willing to go to the movie withsomeone who does not work at Widget Co. In this example, the agent mayfirst determine whether another user at Widget Co. meets all of theuser's constraints, and potentially whether the other user is able to goto the movie with the user, e.g., by performing steps 308 through 320,before determining whether a different user, who does not work at WidgetCo., is able to go to the movie with the user.

In some implementations, the agent may reveal the identity of the userto one or more of the other users. For example, when the agent isscheduling a meeting between the user and the other users, the agent mayshare the name of the user with the other users, e.g., without sharingthe names of the other users with each other, and schedule a time slotfor the meeting. In this example, the agent might not share the user'scalendar availability with the other users but only with the otherusers' respective agents, e.g., when determining a time for the meetingduring step 318.

The process identifies another computer-implemented agent for each ofthe other users (308). For instance, when the agent communicates withthe server to determine the other users who meet the user's constraints,the agent may request an identifier for each of the other agents fromthe server. The identifiers may be for other agents that each execute onthe server, for other agents that execute on respective user devices,e.g., such as addresses of those devices, or both. The server may storea database that includes user profile information, e.g., used todetermine whether the other users meet the user's constraints, thatassociates each user profile with an identifier of the respective agent.

When the agent communicates directly with other agents to determine theother users who meet the constraints of the user, the agent maydetermine the other agents during this communication process. Forexample, the agent may send a message to the other agents to determinewhether the respective user of each of the other agents meets the user'sconstraints. When one of the other agents' users meets the constraints,the respective other agent sends a message to the agent indicating thatthe other user meets the constraints. For other agents whose respectiveusers do not meet the user's constraints, those other agents may or maynot send a message to the agent indicating that the respective user doesnot meet the user's constraints.

The process sends, to each of the other agents, a request to determinewhether the respective other user of the other agent is interested inattending the event (310). The request to determine whether therespective other user is interested in attending the event may beincluded in the same message as a request sent to the other agents todetermine whether the respective other user meets the constraints of theuser. The message may include details of the event, such as the name ofa movie and a theater at which the user plans to watch the movie,depending on the information the agent receives from the user, e.g.,during step 302. The requests may be sent to only the agents whosecorresponding users meet the user's constraints.

The process receives, from a first subset of the other agents, aresponse that indicates that the respective other user is interested inattending the event (312). The other agents each provide theirrespective users with a prompt, either audible or visible, askingwhether the user may attend the event. The agent receives responses fromsome of the other agents, as the first subset, that each indicates thatthe respective other user plans to attend the event.

The process facilitates, with the first subset of the other agents,communication between the user and the respective other users (314). Forinstance, the agent communicates with each of the other agents in thefirst subset in an iterative process that provides the respective userswith additional details about the event, the users who may attend theevent, or both. The communication may be between one of the agents inthe first subset and the agent or multiple agents in the first subsetand the agent. For instance, the agent may provide information about theuser's occupation to a first other agent, e.g., in response to receiptof information about another user's occupation from the first agent, andmay provide more details about the event to all of the agents in thefirst subset, either including the first other agent or not since thefirst agent received details about the user's occupation.

In some implementations, the communication may be between two or more ofthe agents in the first subset. For example, the agent may determinethat the user is no longer able to attend the event but some of theother users still plan to attend the event, e.g., a movie, and the otheragents may continue to schedule the event and iteratively release moredetails about their respective other users, the event, or both.

The process identifies at least one of the first subset of other agentswhose respective other user plans to attend the event (316). Forexample, the agent determines that users for five of the ten otheragents in the first subset indicated that they plan to attend the event.

The process determines a time and a location for the event (318). Theagent communicates with the at least one of the agents in the firstsubset whose respective user plans to attend the event to determine thetime and the location for the event. One or both of the time and thelocation may have been previously defined by the user, e.g., in theuser's constraints. The agents communicate without providing theirrespective user with information from the other users' calendars, exceptfor the determined time and the determined location of the event or toprompt their respective user about the user's availability to attend theevent at a particular time or a particular location.

The process reserves the time for the event in a calendar of the user(320). The agent and the at least one of the agents in the first subseteach create an appointment on their respective user's calendar for atime slot represented by the determined time. The appointment mayinclude information representing the determined location for the event.The appointment may include information indicating the other users thatplan to attend the event.

The order of steps in the process 300 described above is illustrativeonly, and scheduling the time for the event on the user's calendar canbe performed in different orders. For example, the agent may identifythe other agents, e.g., step 308, prior to determining the other usersfor the respective other agents, e.g., step 306.

In some implementations, the process 300 can include additional steps,fewer steps, or some of the steps can be divided into multiple steps.For example, the agent may schedule a time slot for the event for a timeand a location specified by the user without communicating with theother agents to determine the time or location.

Optional Implementation Details

In some implementations, during the communication between the agent andthe other agents, the agent may determine that additional informationabout the user may be provided in a subsequent communication that theagent could not provide in a first communication prior to the subsequentcommunication. For instance, the agent may determine that user privacysettings indicate that the agent should reveal additional informationabout the event during the first three rounds of communication prior toproviding any details about the user, such as the user's occupation,where the user lives or works, or some of the user's hobbies. In thisexample, after the first three rounds of communication, the agent mayreveal details about the user.

In some examples, the agent may receive input from the user indicatingthat the agent may provide the additional information, which the agentcould not previously provide, to another agent. For example, the agentmay prompt the user for the additional information or ask the userwhether the agent may reveal the agent's occupation to another user,e.g., via a respective other agent for the other user.

In some implementations, the agent may reveal some information about anevent during an initial communication but not all information about theevent. For instance, the agent may receive input from the userindicating that the user wants to see a new action movie that comes outon Friday at the 6 PM showing. The agent may identify other agents forother users who are available Friday night, or have another commitmentwhich the respective other user might not attend, and sends a message tothose other agents to determine whether the respective other user maywant to go to a movie Friday night. One or more subsequentcommunications between the agent and the other agents, for those otherusers who indicated that they are interested in attending the movie, mayreveal that the movie is an action movie, that the movie will bereleased on Friday, that the user plans to attend the 6 PM showing ofthe movie, the name of the movie, or any combination of two or more ofthose.

In some implementations, an agent may schedule events for multipledifferent users. For example, when multiple different users operate thesame user device, e.g., a smart phone, the agent may create respectiveprofiles for each of the users, store separate user history data foreach of the users, and have access to a calendar for each of the users.

In these implementations, when one of the users requests that the agentschedule an event, the agent may use the data for the other users thatoperate the same device to determine if one of the other users may wantto attend the event. For instance, the device may be a public computerin a library or a school and the users may not know each other. Theagent may determine that some of the other users may be interested inattending the event and provide each of the other users with a promptasking whether the other user would want to attend the event, e.g., upondetermining that the respective other user is operating the device basedon the other user's login credentials or another method.

In some examples, an agent for multiple users may receive a request fromanother agent asking whether a user may want to attend an event withanother user. The agent may determine for each of the multiple userswhether the user may be interested in attending the event, the usermeets any constraints defined by the other user, the user is able toattend the event, or any combination of two or more of these. The agentmay send the other agent a single message that indicates a subset of themultiple users that plan to attend the event with the other user or maysend one message for each user in the subset of the multiple users.

In some implementations, an agent may receive a request for a particulartype of event without receiving constraints from the user who providedthe request. The agent may determine constraints for people to invite tothe event based on the type of event or the particular event. Forexample, the agent may receive a request from a user stating that “Iwant to have a meeting to talk about Project X. Please find folks whoshould be in that meeting.” The agent may determine potentialparticipants for the event using data that indicates people who areassigned to work on Project X, involved in the development of Project X,or may use a product developed from Project X. The data that indicatesthe potential participants may be stored on a server, e.g., the server214 or another server, that includes a mapping of people, e.g.,employees, to projects or tasks to which they are assigned.

Communications between the requesting user and the potentialparticipants can include discussion topics for the meeting. Forinstance, potential participants of the meeting can ask the requestinguser about the purpose, scope, and/or potential outcome of the meeting.

In some examples, the potential participants may propose or alter anagenda or subject of the meeting. For example, a potential participantcan send a message to the requesting user and/or other potentialparticipants indicating that “I think we should examine whether weshould do project X at all.”

Additional Implementation Details

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with an opportunity to control whether programs orfeatures collect user information (e.g., information about a user'ssocial network, social actions or activities, profession, a user'spreferences, or a user's current location), or to control whether and/orhow to receive event information from the server that may be morerelevant to the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one ormore ways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over how information is collected about the userand used by a server.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, in tangibly-embodied computer software or firmware, incomputer hardware, including the structures disclosed in thisspecification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations ofone or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification can be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e.,one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on atangible non-transitory program carrier for execution by, or to controlthe operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or inaddition, the program instructions can be encoded on anartificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. The computer storage mediumcan be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storagesubstrate, a random or serial access memory device, or a combination ofone or more of them.

The term “data processing apparatus” refers to data processing hardwareand encompasses all kinds of apparatus, devices, and machines forprocessing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, acomputer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can also beor further include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integratedcircuit). The apparatus can optionally include, in addition to hardware,code that creates an execution environment for computer programs, e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them.

A computer program, which may also be referred to or described as aprogram, software, a software application, a module, a software module,a script, or code, can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may, butneed not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be storedin a portion of a file that holds other programs or data, e.g., one ormore scripts stored in a markup language document, in a single filededicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files,e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions ofcode. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computeror on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributedacross multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable computers executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Computers suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, general or special purpose microprocessors or both, orany other kind of central processing unit. Generally, a centralprocessing unit will receive instructions and data from a read-onlymemory or a random access memory or both. The essential elements of acomputer are a central processing unit for performing or executinginstructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions anddata. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupledto receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more massstorage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks,or optical disks. However, a computer need not have such devices.Moreover, a computer can be embedded in another device, e.g., a mobiletelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or videoplayer, a game console, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or aportable storage device, e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive,to name just a few.

Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, mediaand memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can besupplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's device in response to requests received from the web browser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (LAN) and a widearea network (WAN), e.g., the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In someembodiments, a server transmits data, e.g., an HTML page, to a userdevice, e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving userinput from a user interacting with the user device, which acts as aclient. Data generated at the user device, e.g., a result of the userinteraction, can be received from the user device at the server.

An example of one such type of computer is shown in FIG. 4, which showsa schematic diagram of a generic computer system 400. The system 400 canbe used for the operations described in association with any of thecomputer-implement methods described previously, according to oneimplementation. The system 400 includes a processor 410, a memory 420, astorage device 430, and an input/output device 440. Each of thecomponents 410, 420, 430, and 440 are interconnected using a system bus450. The processor 410 is capable of processing instructions forexecution within the system 400. In one implementation, the processor410 is a single-threaded processor. In another implementation, theprocessor 410 is a multi-threaded processor. The processor 410 iscapable of processing instructions stored in the memory 420 or on thestorage device 430 to display graphical information for a user interfaceon the input/output device 440.

The memory 420 stores information within the system 400. In oneimplementation, the memory 420 is a computer-readable medium. In oneimplementation, the memory 420 is a volatile memory unit. In anotherimplementation, the memory 420 is a non-volatile memory unit.

The storage device 430 is capable of providing mass storage for thesystem 400. In one implementation, the storage device 430 is acomputer-readable medium. In various different implementations, thestorage device 430 may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, anoptical disk device, or a tape device.

The input/output device 440 provides input/output operations for thesystem 400. In one implementation, the input/output device 440 includesa keyboard and/or pointing device. In another implementation, theinput/output device 440 includes a display unit for displaying graphicaluser interfaces.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific toparticular embodiments. Certain features that are described in thisspecification in the context of separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system modulesand components in the embodiments described above should not beunderstood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Otherembodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example,the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different orderand still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may beadvantageous.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by a computer-implemented agent for a device, input from auser identifying an event which there is an indication the user plans toattend; determining, by the agent, constraints for other users that willbe invited to attend the event; determining, by the agent, one or moreother users who meet the constraints; identifying, by the agent and foreach of the other users, other computer-implemented agents, each of theother agents for respective other devices; sending, by the agent and toeach of the other agents, a request to determine whether the respectiveother user of the other agent is interested in attending the event thatdoes not include a time slot for the event; receiving, by the agent froma first subset of the other agents, a response that indicates that therespective other user is interested in attending the event based onsending the request to determine whether the respective other user ofthe other agent is interested in attending the event; identifying, bythe agent, at least one of the first subset of the other agents whoserespective other user is interested in attending the event; andscheduling, by the agent and the at least one of the first subset of theother agents, a proposed time slot for the event for the user and theother user using first calendar information for the user and secondcalendar information for the other user in response to identifying theat least one of the first subset of the other agents whose respectiveother user is interested in attending the event.
 2. The method of claim1, comprising: providing, by the agent, a presentation of informationabout the event and the proposed time slot for the event in response toscheduling the proposed time slot for the event.
 3. The method of claim2, comprising: receiving, by the agent, input indicating that the userplans to attend the event during the proposed time slot.
 4. The methodof claim 3, comprising: reserving, by the agent, the proposed time slotfor the event in a calendar of the user in response to receiving theinput indicating that the user plans to attend the event during theproposed time slot.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein scheduling theproposed time slot for the event for the user and the other usercomprises: determining, using the first calendar information for theuser and the second calendar information for the other user who isinterested in attending the event, a proposed time and a proposedlocation for the event without sharing any user's calendar informationwith any of the users.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein scheduling theproposed time slot for the event for the user and the other usercomprises: determining, using the first calendar information for theuser and the second calendar information for the other user who isinterested in attending the event, a proposed time and a proposedlocation for the event; and reserving the proposed time for the event ina calendar of the user.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein scheduling theproposed time slot for the event for the user and the other usercomprises: prompting, by the agent, the user to determine whether theuser is interested in attending another event identified on the calendarof the user which conflicts with the proposed time for the event; andreceiving, by the agent, input indicating that the user will not attendthe other event.
 8. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining, forthe user, respective privacy settings; and providing, to the otheragents, only information about the user that is identified by therespective privacy settings as information that can be disclosed.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, comprising: for a particular other user from theother users until the user and the other user agree to attend the eventtogether or not: providing, by the agent, additional information aboutthe user in a message to a particular other agent from the other agentsthat corresponds with the particular other user in response to receivingthe response that indicates that the respective other user is interestedin attending the event, the message separate from the request todetermine whether the other user is interested in attending the event;and receiving, by the agent, other additional information about theother user or the event from the particular other agent.
 10. The methodof claim 9, wherein the additional information comprises a job title forthe user and the other additional information comprises another jobtitle for the particular other user.
 11. The method of claim 9, whereinthe additional information comprises a name of an employer of the userand the other additional information comprises another name of anotheremployer for the particular other user.
 12. The method of claim 9,wherein the additional information comprises a name of a city in whichthe user works or lives and the other additional information comprisesanother name of another city in which the particular other user works orlives.
 13. The method of claim 1, comprising facilitating communicationbetween the user and the respective other users in response to receivingthe response that indicates that the respective other users areinterested in attending the event.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinfacilitating communication between the user and the respective otherusers in response to receiving the response that indicates that therespective other users are interested in attending the event comprisesfacilitating communication about the user or the other users.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein facilitating communication between the userand the respective other users in response to receiving the responsethat indicates that the respective other users are interested inattending the event comprises facilitating, by the agent for each of theother agents in the first subset of the other agents, communicationbetween only the agent and the respective other agent.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: determining, by the agent, constraints for other usersthat will be invited to attend the event comprises determining, by theagent, constraints for other users that will be invited to attend theevent without receiving an identity for any of the other users from theuser; and determining, by the agent, the one or more other users whomeet the constraints comprises determining, by the agent, the one ormore other users who meet the constraints without revealing an identityfor any of the other users to the user.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein determining the constraints for the other users that will beinvited to attend the event without receiving an identity for any of theother users from the user comprises: prompting, by the agent, the userfor the constraints; and receiving, by the agent, input from the useridentifying the constraints.
 18. The method of claim 16, whereindetermining the constraints for the other users that will be invited toattend the event without receiving an identity for any of the otherusers from the user comprises identifying a profile for the user thatdefines the constraints for the other users that will be invited toattend the event.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein determining theconstraints for other users that will be invited to attend the eventcomprises determining the constraints that are specific to a type of theevent, or all events for the user.
 20. A system, comprising: a dataprocessing apparatus; and a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium in data communication with the data processing apparatus andstoring instructions executable by the data processing apparatus andupon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to performoperations comprising: receiving, by a computer-implemented agent for adevice, input from a user identifying an event which there is anindication the user plans to attend; determining, by the agent,constraints for other users that will be invited to attend the event;determining, by the agent, one or more other users who meet theconstraints; identifying, by the agent and for each of the other users,other computer-implemented agents, each of the other agents forrespective other devices; sending, by the agent and to each of the otheragents, a request to determine whether the respective other user of theother agent is interested in attending the event that does not include atime slot for the event; receiving, by the agent from a first subset ofthe other agents, a response that indicates that the respective otheruser is interested in attending the event based on sending the requestto determine whether the respective other user of the other agent isinterested in attending the event; identifying, by the agent, at leastone of the first subset of the other agents whose respective other useris interested in attending the event; and scheduling, by the agent andthe at least one of the first subset of the other agents, a proposedtime slot for the event for the user and the other user using firstcalendar information for the user and second calendar information forthe other user in response to identifying the at least one of the firstsubset of the other agents whose respective other user is interested inattending the event.
 21. A non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing instructions executable by a data processing apparatusand upon such execution cause the data processing apparatus to performoperations comprising: receiving, by a computer-implemented agent for adevice, input from a user identifying an event which there is anindication the user plans to attend; determining, by the agent,constraints for other users that will be invited to attend the event;determining, by the agent, one or more other users who meet theconstraints; identifying, by the agent and for each of the other users,other computer-implemented agents, each of the other agents forrespective other devices; sending, by the agent and to each of the otheragents, a request to determine whether the respective other user of theother agent is interested in attending the event that does not include atime slot for the event; receiving, by the agent from a first subset ofthe other agents, a response that indicates that the respective otheruser is interested in attending the event based on sending the requestto determine whether the respective other user of the other agent isinterested in attending the event; identifying, by the agent, at leastone of the first subset of the other agents whose respective other useris interested in attending the event; and scheduling, by the agent andthe at least one of the first subset of the other agents, a proposedtime slot for the event for the user and the other user using firstcalendar information for the user and second calendar information forthe other user in response to identifying the at least one of the firstsubset of the other agents whose respective other user is interested inattending the event.